


Take a Second Look

by hellynz



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Post-Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), all the guardians are mentioned, and mantis being one too but being able to handle it a little better, bugborg, nebula being an emotional disaster, the tagged ones are the ones who speak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 03:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18229376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellynz/pseuds/hellynz
Summary: So as Nebula closed herself up and stood, she did not immediately stalk from the room as she had planned to.She turned to the also rising woman and said, from between half clenched teeth, “I enjoyed your company.”Thenshe stalked from the room.





	Take a Second Look

“What is your favorite of Peter’s songs?”

The question was asked softly, probably trying not to startle Nebula. She faced away from the doorway and the speaker, a panel in her arm open and sparking as she tinkered. Her thumb had been twitching unexpectedly over the past few days. Not something she wanted to continue.

Nebula had, of course, known Mantis was standing there. The empath was small and walked with the feather lightness of someone raised to be seen, not heard, but Nebula had been raised to hear everything, and had noticed her footsteps approaching down the hall.

“Why?” she said sharply, not turning.

“I am just curious,” said Mantis. “I like knowing everyone’s favorite song. I think it says a lot about them.”

She took a few slow steps towards her. “For example, Rocket is fond of the ‘Cherry Bomb’ song. He loves blowing things up, and is also a rebel who feels resentful towards his creators.”

This was actual personality assessment, then. “I do not have a favorite,” she answered, not looking up. “They’re all just a bunch of noise. There is no point to them.”

The quiet footsteps began again, coming closer, until Mantis sat next to her a polite couple of feet away.

“I disagree,” she said pleasantly. “I think it’s wonderful how different they all sound. They invoke different feelings in me. I like that.”

Nebula grunted.

Mantis did not leave.

Instead, she spent the next hour watching Nebula tinker from a polite distance, not speaking again or looking bored or distracted, just following her movements intently.

Once or twice, Nebula risked a glance into their reflections on the window they sat in front of and watched Mantis’s face, looking for her intentions. Her face showed nothing but curiosity. No hatred. No repulsion. _No fear._ No fear at all.

She wasn’t sure exactly why that lack of fear was so intoxicating, but it was. Everyone was afraid of Nebula, and usually she reveled in it (even if it was mostly because if she didn’t revel, she would have drowned in it years ago).

But Mantis watching her, dark eyes flickering to follow her movements, head tilting and leveling itself above her shoulders, insectoid in a way that was almost mechanical-

She liked it. As much as she hated to admit that. She found herself calm, almost even comforted by the silent and studious presence of another who is not scared of or repulsed by her.

So as Nebula closed herself up and stood, she did not immediately stalk from the room as she had planned to.

She turned to the also rising woman and said, from between half clenched teeth, “I enjoyed your company.”

 _Then_ she stalked from the room. She pretended not to hear the quiet “I enjoyed yours as well.”

\----

The next time they spoke was after negotiations gone wrong.

Nebula was not usually present for discussions with their clients, whether or not she was assisting with the mission, but this group of individuals had been particularly shady and so the Guardians, needing as much strength and intimidation as they could get, had asked her to stand with them.

It definitely didn’t make her a little happy that they trusted her enough.

The plan had been for literally none of the Guardians other than Nebula, Quill, and Gamora to be anywhere near the people who had hired them to defend a small satellite. But then there had been significant damage done to their ship, and so in a last minute desperate decision, they all stood in a group, Quill, Drax, and Gamora at the front with Nebula just behind and Rocket standing defensively in front of Groot and Mantis.

They had taken on a mission from a group of semi-notorious criminals (not nearly as famous as the ravagers) who were willing to pay big bucks to ensure safe passage of their civilian family members to the new home base. Apparently the Guardians had seen this as a noble mission, had believed the lies told by their client, and had willingly entered the agreement. Nebula would have had several things to say if she had been on their ship at the time.

When Thanos had pitted groups of his children against each other, the battle room would quickly become an absolute frenzy as they all desperately tried to please him. As the crime lord who had hired them sent his lackies forward to refuse payment through violence, she felt right in her element. 

A few moments into the fight, her attention snapped to Mantis. Several figures were moving towards her. The skills of those coming at Nebula were low enough that she could watch their encounter out of the corner of her eye, and her heart stuttered in her chest as Mantis did not rise or move her arms defensively. She reached for no weapon, prepared no stance, and instead took three quick steps back before stumbling, falling onto her backside with a gasp.

Nebula had whirled and thrown a knife before Peter and Rocket had finished their warning shouts, and was ripping it out of the assailants back and hoisting 

Mantis to her feet before they had taken their second step towards her.

She grabbed Mantis’s hand and yanked, pulling her quickly out of the way and bringing her own body in front as a shield.

It wasn’t till the attackers had been subdued that she realized she’d never let go. She glanced down at their hands, fingers intertwined, and blushed a deep navy.

Mantis, in between fearful glances around, was smiling up at her.

She didn’t drop their hold. Yet. She did drop it later when she needed both hands to strike down their enemies, and finally for good after the battle was over and her agenda became ‘Yelling at Quill’ rather than ‘Protecting and also being very close to Mantis’.

“She has no combat training whatsoever? She has been a part of your team for months and you haven’t even bothered to teach her how to do something as simple as block a punch?” she growled, hands clenched at her sides.

“I don’t want to expose Mantis to shit like that at all if I can help it,” Peter barked back, facing her, stance the same as if he thought he could put up any kind of fight.

“What about when you can’t help it, like today? What was she supposed to do if I wasn’t around?”

“I’ve tried a few times, Nebula,” Gamora spoke up, putting one hand on her chest and the other on Peter’s and pushing them slightly apart. “But she’s a total beginner and we haven’t gotten very far yet.”

“I do not think...” Mantis started, but Peter was speaking again, this time towards Gamora.

“That was the basics, that was like, disarming a gun. I don’t think she needs to know how to shoot one. This is my sister, she’s been through enough, and besides, we keep her and Groot away from the fighting anyway.”

Nebula took a deep breath, trying (mostly for the sake of her sister) to not combust with rage. As Gamora and Quill began a heated discussion, she whirled towards Mantis, who winced a bit and still looked generally frightened.

“What do you want to do?” she asked, her voice softer than intended.

“I...” she began, her gaze jumping back and forth between the two still arguing and Nebula in front of her.

“It’s okay. You don't have to please anyone. It's up to you.”

\----

“I’ll teach you the movements slowly first,” she said later in the training room, settling back into a ready stance, “but when we spar I am going to move at my normal speed. When you face a real enemy again they will not be holding back, and the only way to learn is by failing over and over until you don’t anymore.

“We’ll start with defensive moves. If I went to kick you like this, here’s how you should block it.”

The next hour was a whirlwind. They spent minutes going over the movements in slow motion, and then Nebula would spring, going at Mantis with her usual vigor. Every time she managed to connect (pulling all of her strength at the last moment and just barely making contact, of course), Mantis would groan in protest and shove her away, face screwing up in frustration, but she never gave up. She sprang back to her feet, ducked and wove, took no time to catch her breath and haphazardly threw her hair into a ponytail in between movements. 

Halfway through the session, Nebula realized she could not stop smiling. Even when she saw Peter standing off to one side, watching them.

By the end, Mantis was still nowhere near the level she would need to be at to actively participate in a fight. But she was smiling and breathing hard, and Nebula was having trouble focusing with her so close. Their last spar ended with Mantis on the ground underneath Nebula, where they froze for several seconds before she leapt away, thanking the stars that Quill had vanished at some point and muttering about “good job” and “we can try again tomorrow” (with a reluctantly added “if you want”).

When she headed back into the hangar to take a look at her ship, Gamora was waiting for her.

“How did it go?”

Nebula grunted. “Checking in for Quill?”

“Yes,” Gamora answered plainly, “but for my own curiosity as well. I wouldn’t exactly call you the mentoring type. He said you looked happy.”

“She is easy to teach. She’s very determined to be able to defend herself if nothing else, and is a quick learner,” said Nebula, facing away from her sister and keeping her voice neutral. “We plan to make training sessions a regular thing.”

She could feel Gamora’s surprised face before she turned and saw it. She scowled.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m glad you had a good time.”

Nebula noticed with satisfaction that, once Mantis could at least defend herself properly, the team began to take her more seriously. At first she credited it to a job well done teaching a student, but she wasn’t sure that completely explained the butterflies in her stomach.

\----

For a creature who could put other beings to sleep, Mantis didn’t seem to do much of it herself. At first Nebula assumed it was part of her biology, needing to rest very rarely, and so wasn’t put off by how often her own insomnia-fueled nighttime walks around the ship found Mantis doing the same. But she’d seen bags under her eyes, yawns swallowed back behind her teeth or smothered into her hand.

Not that she had been paying much attention. Or that she would care if she had been.

It was none of her business anyway. She came and went frequently from the Guardian’s ship, usually only staying for a single night unless major repairs were needed. There was no way for her to know, really, how much sleep Mantis did or didn’t get. No need for her to worry about something she didn’t even truly know was a problem.

That’s what she told herself until she found her nodding off on a stool in the galley.

She was leaning her head on one hand, a mug of something slowly cooling in front of her. Nebula paused in the doorway - not hovering, she didn’t hover - and considered her options. Despite seeing her often during their lessons, they had not been alone together in a quiet setting since their encounter during her repairs.

It pained her to admit it, but she was craving more.

She had officially begun to approach when Mantis’s head nodded forward, slipping off of her hand and towards the table. Without thinking, Nebula took the last few steps at a breakneck pace and caught her by the shoulders, her hands gently stopping her fall and then helping to sit back up as she stirred.

“Oh. Hi, Nebula,” she said, stretching and yawning, her voice soft from almost-sleep.

“You need rest,” Nebula responded bluntly. “You almost slammed your face into the table.”

Mantis hummed, nodding in agreement. “I do. Unfortunately I was not able to tonight. I have trouble sleeping sometimes. I thought drinking something warm might help.”

Very suddenly, Nebula realized she was still resting her hands on the smaller woman’s shoulders. She jerked backwards, clenching her fingers into fists. Mantis just looked up at her sleepily.

“Um,” she started, scowling.

Mantis interrupted her. “What do you do when you can’t sleep?”

Mantis shifted in her chair so she was fully facing Nebula and gestured towards the stool next to her. After a moment of internal conflict, Nebula moved stifly towards it and sat as well.

“I’m assuming you do sleep. I know you are made up of many robotic enhancements, but since you do still have some organic biology, I thought you would still need to do the basics.”

Nebula opened and then shut her mouth. “Yeah. I do. Most people don’t like talking about that with me. They think it’s weird. I bother them.”

Mantis shrugged, even looked a little annoyed. “You do not bother me. I do not see why anyone should be bothered just discussing your body.”

One corner of Nebula’s mouth twitched. She wasn’t quite sure if she’d been about to frown or smile. Mantis was looking away from her again, lifting her cup to her lips and sipping softly at it. Her gaze eventually wandered back, then snapped away quickly, only to flick right to meet hers again.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Nebula blinked a few times and then tore her gaze away, feeling heat rush to her cheeks. “I’m not. I mean, no reason. Sorry. I mean, you just keep surprising me.”

“I do?”

“Yes. You do not react to me the way other people do at all.”

“I think it’s because I am not frightened by you.”

She was surprised into silence again. Quickly, she backed up the conversation.

“I’m not good at getting myself to sleep when I can’t. Most of the time I just decide I’m done sleeping for the night and I go and wander around whatever ship I’m on. That’s why I found you tonight.”

Mantis tilted her head to one side, contemplating. “What if you can’t sleep for many nights?”

Nebula shrugged. “Then I am very tired for many days.”

They fell into silence for another moment. 

“What is keeping you awake?”

With a sigh, Mantis’s gaze turned mournful and she looked down, Nebula’s heart aching for her and startling herself with the strength of the emotional attachment she’d apparently already formed. 

“Most of Ego’s children were young when he took them, but not all. One was... one became someone special to me. But they were killed just like the rest. It was a long time ago. But sometimes I can’t keep the memories out of my head.”

Quiet hung between them for a moment. Nebula wasn’t sure what to do, wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how. She was working up the courage to take her hand when Mantis straightened suddenly.

“I felt about them the same way I’m starting to feel about you.”

Her mouth fell open and she felt all of the blood in her body rush to her face. “Oh.”

“Sorry if that was too much,” Mantis said, blushing herself (being not the only one flustered was something Nebula would deny taking pleasure in).

Was it too much?

Immediately she felt an old defensive desire to pull away, to leave, to protect herself from what was probably a joke or a prank, to stop before she got her hopes up or - gods forbid - accidentally hurt Mantis.

That’s what she had always done, wasn’t it? Pull away. Put a wall around herself. Never let anyone in, although no one had really tried before.

Mantis was still looking up at her. Hopeful.

“It wasn’t. I... I liked it. I think I might like you. Nobody has ever talked to me the way you do.”

“They think you are scary. They think I am naive.”

“I don’t think you’re naive.”

Mantis smiled. “I know. And I do not think you are scary.”

“I don’t know if this would help...” Nebula blurted out, already regretting it but plowing forward anyway, “but... When Gamora and I were very small, before Thanos started pitting us against each other, we shared living quarters. After lights out when we got homesick, we would get under a blanket together and... you know, hug until we fell asleep. We could... If you want...” she trailed off, kicking herself, face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

But then she glanced at Mantis, and yet again was completely thrown by what she saw. There was no humor or shock like she expected. Instead, she was simply looking at her, a soft and fond look in her tired eyes, and Nebula reeled as her chest tightened and something warm and soft and almost sickening clenched inside her. She wanted to wrap the other girl in her arms and never, EVER let anyone else near her ever again, she wanted to hold her forever, she wanted to write songs about her, she wanted to climb a mountain so that she could yell her praises from the top, she wanted to-

“I think I’d like it if we snuggled.”

Nebula grunted angrily in reply.

“But under one condition. You still haven’t told me what your favorite song is.”

Nebula gaped at her for a moment before screwing her face up in a scowl. Mantis was smiling, teasing. “I don’t believe you for one second that they ‘all sound the same’. I bet there is one that has spoken to you.”

She went to protest, but could not come up with the words. Her defenses were truly down, and she was torn between hating it and wanting it to continue.

"I can go first,” Mantis said, “as I never told you mine either. My favorite is called ‘I Want You Back’. It seems to be about a child who wants to reunite with someone they love. And it is very catchy.”

As she spoke, the smaller woman slowly slid an arm around Nebula’s, and leaned her head against a blue shoulder. Her eyes drifted shut, and as she finished speaking she sighed in contentment, nuzzling closer to the cyborg. Despite her best efforts and the blush still burning at her cheeks, Nebula felt the corners of her mouth twitching upwards again, and she slowly slid the two of them off of their stools and began to walk towards the door.

“How about I tell you after you get some sleep?”

She was rewarded with a soft hum, and her heart was warm with it for days.

**Author's Note:**

> There may be an epilogue, or it may transform itself into a whole fic. We'll see!!!
> 
> I really hope you enjoy reading! Kudos are always appreciated and comments make me cry tears of joy. Follow me on tumblr /hellynz.


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